


High Hopes

by Melacka



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Flirting, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21946114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melacka/pseuds/Melacka
Summary: Christmas hadn't been a good time of year for her for so long, all she wanted was to get one positive memory. One thing she could hold on to.When Katniss bails on a bad date, can Peeta help her salvage a miserable night?
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 20
Kudos: 100
Collections: The Hunger Games 2019 Season of Hope Holiday Gift Exchange





	High Hopes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hutchabelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hutchabelle/gifts).



> A gift for hutchabelle, who requested Katniss and Peeta's first Christmas together. This is more like a pre-relationship, pre-Christmas story. I hope you enjoy it!

Katniss stared at the wall behind her date’s head and tried to remember the reason why she thought this was a good idea. She’d known it was going to be a bad night when her date had turned up nearly 45 minutes late without so much as a courtesy call or even a quick message to let her know. They’d met on tinder, for god’s sake, so she knew he was capable of using his phone, and it was only her pride that had stopped her from messaging him to find out where he was. Unfortunately, her pride was _just_ strong enough to get her into this mess but not strong enough to get her out of it. That and the fact that she hadn’t been on a date for nearly six months. Months she’d spent pining after a friend like some kind of tragic romantic cliché, the kind of woman she'd sworn she'd never be. Tonight, she’d just wanted a sure thing. Something easy. An attractive man that she could enjoy a meal with and then—

Well. She’d had high hopes for this evening. Such high hopes.

She sighed deeply as she watched the seconds tick by. Her date was still talking about the last girl he’d brought here. Katniss wondered if _she’d_ bought new underwear for the occasion or if she’d had some nice ones ready. _She_ probably didn’t need to be bullied into signing up to tinder by a friend because her love life was so pathetic. _She_ probably didn’t need a pep talk from her baby sister before finally getting up the courage to message a complete stranger to arrange a date.

A complete stranger who was now very obviously trying to look down the waitress’ top. Katniss rolled her eyes and just barely managed to suppress a groan. How did she manage to get herself into this situation? Guys like this were _exactly_ why she didn’t date. And now she’d used up one of her precious few evenings off chasing some impossible fantasy. Just because it was Christmas and she was just a little lonely. And just slightly desperate.

A little desperately lonely.

Christmas hadn't been a good time of year for her for so long, all she wanted was to get one positive memory. One thing she could hold on to.

She sighed again and sulkily grabbed a breadstick, tearing it into small pieces.

“Good idea,” he said eagerly, “fill up on bread. I’m just going to get a drink.”

Katniss watched him walking away, mouth hanging open in shock.

“Oh no, I don’t want anything!” she called after him and then flushed in embarrassment when she caught the pitying look on the face of the woman at the next table. Averting her eyes quickly, she resumed her assault on the breadstick.

When she’d completed destroyed it, she decided that she should at least get some food out of this total disaster. As her eyes scanned the restaurant for the waitress they fell on her date, leaning in close and whispering to a woman at the bar. Katniss gritted her teeth as his hand trailed teasingly down her arm and she giggled.

Looking away quickly, she grabbed her bag from the floor and unceremoniously dumped the entire basket of breadsticks in it. She was hungry, damn it, and was rapidly passing the point where she cared what anyone thought. She stood up from the table, resolutely ignoring the woman who was staring at her again and walked calmly to the door.

As soon as she was outside, her calm façade cracked and she leaned against the wall, trying desperately to stop the tears that she could feel building. She didn’t care about that guy, not even a little, it was just so humiliating. Her first foray into online dating and it was a complete disaster. Still, she consoled herself with the fact that she hadn’t seen anyone she knew in the restaurant. No one ever needed to know just how awfully this had gone. She blindly groped for one of the breadsticks in her bag and took a huge bite, chewing it angrily.

“Katniss?”

Her eyes flew open and she almost choked on her mouthful of bread. She swallowed with some difficulty and looked into the smiling face of Peeta Mellark.

“Hello,” she croaked, wondering just how many ways this night could go wrong. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m on my way to work, I’m doing the night shift at the bakery all week. What are you doing here?” he asked cheerfully, glancing down at her hand still clutching the breadstick. “Stocking up on supplies?”

“Huh?”

“You know, if you’re going to stockpile breadsticks, you should at least get them from somewhere decent.”

“Decent?”

“Yeah! These are practically a crime against humanity! At the very least, they’re a crime against baked goods.”

“They’re not so bad,” she said defensively, taking another bite out of the one in her hand to prove her point.

Peeta pulled an exaggerated grimace and put his hands up in surrender.

“Katniss, please! Life is too short for bad bread! Don’t sacrifice yourself like this! It’s not worth it!”

She grinned at him before taking another ostentatious bite.

“Delicious!” she said with her mouth full. “Lucky I got a whole bag full of these, huh?”

“Katniss,” he groaned, closing his eyes as if in pain. “Enough.”

She took a fresh breadstick out of her bag and waved it teasingly under his nose.

“See, doesn’t it smell good?” she said, suppressing a laugh with difficulty. “Don’t you want some?”

Peeta grabbed her hand quickly, halting its movement. She gasped at how fast he moved, and he smirked at her.

“How about I show you how it’s done, Ms Everdeen?” He gently pulled her closer to him, leaning down slightly. “I’ll make you forget you ever saw these breadsticks.”

“Oh?” she whispered, licking her lips, all traces of humour gone. “And how will you do that?”

“At the bakery, of course,” he said innocently. “Why? Did you have something else in mind?”

She flushed in embarrassment and looked away as he released her hand. They’d been playing this game for over a month now, this teasing back and forth that always left her feeling just a little breathless. Peeta had a way with words and even Katniss couldn’t ignore the way he flirted with her, but it never _went_ anywhere and so she had come to the conclusion that he was just like that. She'd felt safer that way, like she wouldn't have to deal with disappointment if she didn't allow herself to hope for something more.

“Come on,” Peeta said cheerfully, looping his arm through hers. “it’s Christmas, you shouldn’t be out here on your own!”

“It’s not Christmas.”

“Okay so it’s the night before the night before Christmas, close enough. Come on, it’s almost Christmas Eve, you shouldn’t be alone!”

“I’m fine,” she insisted sulkily.

“Yeah, but I’m not, I hate to be alone at this time of year.”

He spoke so seriously that she looked at him in surprise.

“Why are you alone? Shouldn’t you be with your family?”

“Not yet, we all gather together for our annual bout of awkwardness and tension on Christmas Day. Until then, I must earn my keep by working nights in the bakery.”

“Oh.”

“See, it’s all terribly depressing. It’s our first Christmas since we’ve been friends, we need to celebrate! Come with me, Katniss, let me feed you, at least.”

“You said the magic words!” she said, laughing. “Take me, I’m yours!”

Peeta burst out laughing as he turned them gently towards the bakery.

“If I’d known it would be that easy, I would have offered to feed you months ago,” he said under his breath.

Katniss didn’t know how to respond to that, so she pretended she hadn’t heard him.

“What were you doing out there, anyway? Isn’t it a little cold to just be standing around?”

“I went there for dinner.”

“Aren’t you a little overdressed for that place?” he asked curiously. “Wait, who were you having dinner with?”

“No one,” she replied quickly.

Too quickly.

She cringed as he raised his eyebrows at her.

“Really?” he said sceptically. “No one?”

“That’s right,” she snapped, refusing to look at him.

“Katniss, you’re a terrible liar. Always have been.”

She huffed, annoyed but unable to argue. She _was_ a terrible liar and they both knew it.

“But, hey, if you don’t want to tell me who you were with, that’s fine.” He bumped his shoulder against hers gently. “It’s none of my business, you just look nice, is all.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, blushing in spite of herself.

“You make me feel like I should at least put a tie on or something.

“Won’t that be a bit weird in the bakery?”

“No weirder than you having a bag full of stolen breadsticks.”

“They’re complimentary!” she protested with a laugh.

“Yeah, at the restaurant! You’re not supposed to tip the basket right into your bag!”

“How did you—”

Katniss broke off when Peeta burst out laughing.

“So that _is_ what you did!”

“I was hungry!”

“Oh, that makes sense. No way you could have gotten any food at a restaurant. The very idea!”

“Shut up!” she said, playfully swatting his arm.

“Ow!” he cried, dramatically grasping at his arm where she had hit him. “Do you always lash out at the people who try to help you?”

“Very funny.”

“No, I need to know! What are you going to do to me when I feed you?”

“I won’t do anything to you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” she said solemnly. “I’ll be too busy eating so I won’t even notice you.”

“Well _that’s_ a relief,” he said, pushing open the bakery door. “After you.”

Katniss smiled as she walked into the Mellark family bakery. There was something about the smell of a bakery that just made her feel content. Peeta followed her in and quickly closed the door behind them, shutting out the cold.

“It’s only me!” he called out as his father came bustling into the front of the shop. “Hi, Dad, busy night?”

“Peeta, I was wondering when you’d get here. Your mother has been calling me constantly for the last – oh—” He stopped talking abruptly when he noticed Katniss standing there. “Katniss! What a pleasure!”

Katniss, a little surprised at this enthusiastic greeting, simply smiled at him.

“I was hoping that Peeta would finally get up the courage to ask you out!”

“Dad!” Peeta protested.

“You know he talks about you all the time!”

Katniss darted a quick look towards Peeta, but he studiously avoided her gaze.

“A bit of a surprise that he wanted to bring you here, though,” his father continued breezily. “And look how nice you look, too! Peeta, shame on you! You should take her out for a proper date!”

“Dad, that’s not—”

“I wanted to come here, Mr Mellark,” Katniss interrupted suddenly. “Peeta was just humouring me, you know how hard it is for us to get time off at the same time.”

Peeta gaped at her in shock as his father smiled jovially at them both.

“We’ll go on a proper date as well,” she continued as calmly as she could. “But first, Peeta owes me some breadsticks.”

“Breadsticks?” Mr Mellark ask, clearly surprised.

“For starters, yeah.”

Katniss caught Peeta’s eye and his face broke into a huge grin.

“And then who knows where we’ll end up, but I have high hopes for the evening.”

Mr Mellark chuckled indulgently and wished them a pleasant time before leaving the bakery.

“So, uh—” Peeta said awkwardly. “That was – well—”

“Enlightening.”

“I was going to say _embarrassing_ , but yours works too.”

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, both unsure how to proceed.

“So,” Katniss said after the silence had stretched on too long.

“So,” Peeta echoed.

“Are you going to ask me out or what?”

“Uh—”

“Because I heard that you talk about me _all_ the time.”

“Yeah, well—”

“And your dad seems pretty set on it, as well.”

“Right.”

“And it’s nearly Christmas,” she continued, looking down at her hands. “No one should be alone.”

“Katniss, stop. You don’t have to pretend that you want—”

“I’m not so good at pretending, Peeta,” she said loudly. “Terrible liar, remember?”

“Awful liar, yes,” he agreed solemnly.

“It’s really not that complicated, you know,” she said reasonably. “I’ve had one terrible date already this evening and I just want to spend some time with a nice guy.”

“And that’s me?”

“I enjoy your company, Peeta, but if you just want to be friends then that’s all we’ll be.”

“And if that’s not all I want?”

“Then you’re going to have to make a move. I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one night. So?”

“So,” Peeta echoed her again as he stepped closer. “Katniss.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to go out with me sometime?”

Katniss smiled at him nervously and took his hand in hers.

“Will you feed me?” she asked seriously.

“Always,” he replied with equal sincerity.

“Then I’m all yours.”

He grinned at her and she felt a slight fluttering of pleasure in her stomach. She didn’t know how it happened, but seeing Peeta Mellark smile at her like that was quickly becoming her very favourite thing. Maybe this Christmas wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to all who read/leave kudos/comment and big thanks also to those who go to the trouble of organising this exchange!


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